Struggle for Existence

In 2025, five rare Palila finches survive in the wild and a woman journeys to Hawaii, the Extinction Capital of the World, to see the last few birds. Through animation and live-action footage, the film explores how a species is preserved by man as it nears extinction by looking at past and present efforts to save Hawaiian birds. Struggle for Existence contemplates Darwin’s theory of natural selection, inevitability of death, and our human instinct to “save nature.” Do we value the animals with whom we share this planet, or is the destruction of a species the natural course of life?